The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) - or Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) - has a found a home in various markets across the globe today: military, security, law enforcement, research, humanitarian, etc... UAV Factory produces a line of capable UAS platforms known as "Penguin" which include the earlier Penguin B and the current-generation Penguin C. The latter has been designed with long-range/long-endurance in mind and can cover up to 20 hours flight time out to a range of 100 kilometers. It is considered a "small" UAV by FAA regulations (due to its 55lb weight class) and intended for professional use only. The C-model has already recorded some 4,000 hours in the air under various environmental conditions.
The Penguin C is built upon the established (and proven) record-setting framework of the earlier Penguin B model series which has gone on to see widespread global service with dozens of operators. The B-model managed a 54.5 hour world record flight back in 2012.
The Penguin C is a complete system comprised of three Penguin C air vehicles, a Ground Control Station (GCS), and a catapult launcher. All are all relatively easily portable in the back of a transport van or truck for the complete kit and all of its associated components weigh a combined 585lb.
The air vehicle component relies on the low-cost catapult launching (fully-autonomous) and is managed by a crew of two through a GCS. Recovery of the air vehicle is by way of parachute. As such, the Penguin C does not require any length of prepared runway to function which keeps operating costs and requirements low. For recovery, the aircraft carries a built-in estimation algorithm which signals the release of the parachute based on the intended landing point for pin-point accuracy. Setup time for launching one of the vehicles is just under an hour.
The air vehicle itself is of a sleek, aerodynamically-refined design with high-mounted, straight wing mainplanes fitted. The tail unit has inward-canted vertical planes supported by slim tail booms emanating from the wing mainplane trailing edges. The engine fit sits at the rear of the fuselage with the optics set held in a trainable blister in the belly/chin position.
Power to the UAV is from an in-house UAV28-EFI Turnkey Fuel-Injected Engine (FIE) that has been designed as a completely replaceable module - allowing the unit to be completely (and quickly) removed to undergo maintenance or repair while a replacement engine is dropped in its place - this allows the UAV to remain online with as little downtime as possible. The powerplant is used to drive a two-bladed propelled in "pusher" configuration at the rear of the fuselage. The engine features a 100w onboard generator unit, cold weather starting capabilities, and low-noise features (a silent muffler being fitted).
The aircraft is capable of carrying various gyro-stabilized optics sets to fulfill a broad range of mission types in any weather circumstance and in daytime or low-light hours. The payload section also extends support for 3rd Party products. Data transmissions are encrypted for security-in-communications and the aircraft can reach up to 10,000 feet of altitude, making the UAS silent to any unsuspecting targets on the ground. This inherent and powerful flexibility makes the Penguin C capable of undertaking roles related to search, tracking, observation, general surveillance, observation, and aerial inspection.
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July 2022 - The U.S. Army has committed to the Penguin series UAV.
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
✓Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout
Surveil ground targets / target areas to assess environmental threat levels, enemy strength, or enemy movement.
✓Unmanned Capability
Aircraft inherently designed (or later developed) with an unmanned capability to cover a variety of over-battlefield roles.
Length
7.5 ft (2.30 m)
Width/Span
10.8 ft (3.30 m)
Height
7.4 ft (2.25 m)
MTOW
49 lb (22 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base UAV Factory Penguin C production variant)
monoplane / high-mounted / straight
Monoplane
Design utilizes a single primary wing mainplane; this represent the most popular mainplane arrangement.
High-Mounted
Mainplanes are mounted at the upper-most position allowable along the dorsal line of the fuselage.
Straight
The planform involves use of basic, straight mainplane members.
(Structural descriptors pertain to the base UAV Factory Penguin C production variant)
Installed:
1 x EFI 28cc. engine driving a two-bladed propeller in pusher configuration.
(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base UAV Factory Penguin C production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)
None. Optics and sensor payloads supported (IR sensor, laser rangefinder, laser illuminator).
Supported Types
(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
Penguin C - Base Series Designation.
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.
Images Gallery
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Image from official UAV Factory marketing material.
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Image from official UAV Factory marketing material.
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Image from official UAV Factory marketing material.
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Image from official UAV Factory marketing material.
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Image from official UAV Factory marketing material.
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